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Japanese Propaganda
During World War II, the Japanese government instilled nationalism in its people. Many animators were forced to create propaganda that reflected the Japanese spirit.
Momotarô: Umi no shinpei (Momotaro: Sacred Sailors) was released and is regarded as the first feature-length anime film. Funded by the Japanese Navy, it served as a propaganda tool, as well as the starting point for what we all know as anime. -
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The Conception of an Artform
From emotional storytelling to incredible artistry, anime has served as an incredibly popular medium for many decades. This timeline will illustrate how a once politically-aligned artform has managed to influence generations of audiences across the world -
The Founding Father of Manga & Anime
Osamu Tezuka is known as the "Godfather of Manga and Anime." Tezuka, who worked as a doctor and a cartoonist, illustrated and published his first work, "Diary of Ma-Cahn," when he was just 17 years old. The exploits of a young schoolboy were chronicled in this series of four-panel comic strips.
Tezuka's work was influenced by Walt Disney Studios' animation and acted as a springboard for him to fall in love with the medium. Ma-Chan dolls were created as the comic became more successful. -
The Best Work from Osamu Tezuka
Astro Boy was the first modern Japanese television series to include many of the key tropes that would later be referred to as "anime." Astro Boy, a child-robot with superpowers, captured the imagination of a nation in search of hope and dreams as Japan recovered from the war's damaging effects. A second TV series was produced in1980, this time in colour, and a third series was produced in 2003 using computer-generated animation.
Below, I've given my own, modernised rendition of the character. -
Weekly Shōnen Jump!
Shueisha released Weekly Shōnen Jump on July 2, 1968, to compete with the already-popular Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Weekly Shōnen Sunday.
From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, the magazine's circulation peaked at 6.53 million copies per week, with an 18-million-strong readership in Japan. Since 1968, the magazine has sold over 7.5 billion copies, making it the most popular comic/manga publication in the world. -
Creating new subcultures
The Mobile Suit Gundam was the first anime of the true robot genre. It's an anime style where mecha robots are powered by traditional energy sources and weapons that can be explained by real world physics. By 2000, the Gundam franchise had grossed over $5 bn in retail revenue. By 2007, Bandai Namco Holdings, had earned up to ¥54.5bn from goods based on Gundam characters. The tram station has a statue of Gundam and plays the theme tune of the first Gundam film as its departure melody! -
Dragon Ball bursts onto the Scene!
Akira Toriyama got his start in the manga industry by entering an amateur contest in Jump magazine and winning the prize money. At the age of 25, Toriyama had some success with Wonder Island and Dr.Slump. In 1984, Weekly Shōnen Jump started to serialise Toriyama's Dragon Ball, an immediate success. By 2014, 159.5 million tankōbon copies had been sold in Japan alone, making it Shueisha's second best-selling manga of all time.
Below is another one of my renditions of this popular franchise. -
An interesting start...
HUNTERxHUNTER is considered to be one of the most outstanding series in the industry, inspiring the likes of many on-going anime properties. The unique story begins with author Yoshihiro Togashi, creating a compelling series for Weekly Shōnen Jump. At the height of his fame, he had come across ill health, which led to low artwork quality. In reaction, he offered redraws for the next volumes, and in 1999 he produced an animated series that would see a revival in 2011. -
A New Golden Age
Throughout the evolution of the industry, an overwhelming amount of anime has been aimed at youth. While the shows were still insanely successful, fanbases started to dwindle due to people getting older. To capitalise on this, the market has started to adapt 'darker' light novels & manga. In 2000 Inuyasha was adapted, which heavily referenced 'demonic' entities. Catering to such crowds has made for even more innovation, calling for another 'boom' in the industry. -
Reboots & Revival
After plenty of hiatuses, Yoshihiro Togashi took the executive decision to revive HxH from its previous 2 year run. With this reboot, Tagashi condensed many story elements, while also including many of the new popular anime tropes. This served as a way to evoke much more emotion within the storytelling itself. He distribute 2 feature length films which saw great success.
2015 also saw the birth of Dragonball Super, which serves as the to the Dragonball series. -
Dominating the Silver Screen
2010s saw a fast change in the volume of well-written manga and anime. My Hero Academia serves as this generation's signature series, alongside Attack on Titan and One Punch Man - all of which have completely separate and special storylines. After a strong 3-season run, author Kohei Horikoshi wanted to capitalise on the ever-growing popularity. MHA: Two Heroes was released in 2018 and grossed $27.5m worldwide. A new Dragonball film was released that same year and grossed $124.5m worldwide -
What's Next?
Over the course of this industry journey, there has been a display of emotional storytelling, fantastic graphics, and constant waves of audiences developing attachments to several characters. 2020 saw the birth of high-budget anime, such as Jujutsu-Kaisen and Demon Slayer, which became Japan's highest grossing film at $313m. As an artist, I want to take inspiration from the examples set in front of me and translate it into my own work, in order to convey a wide range of themes and emotions.
